After a visit to the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) in 2019, we were inspired to create a show that lets attendees break rules and touch art.

We partnered with TSBVI for our first show in 2023. We included 8 professional artists and 20 student artists (ages 14-19). Our first year of Touch the Art focused on education, career development, networking and creating art for display and sale during our exhibition, with proceeds going to the artists and students.

Touch the Art has grown significantly in the past three years. In 2024 we added our Touch the Art Collective, a paid 8-week mentorship program for 5 professional artists to collaborate with TSBVI students (ages 14-19) on installations.

TTA Collective members are trained by TSBVI staff on incidental learning, equitable accessibility and non-verbal communication. The artwork created is exhibited and sold alongside art from 30+ additional artists in an immersive month-long show with music, activities and a documentary.

Last year we also began TTA workshops and pop-up exhibitions to spread our mission to other spaces. Commissioned artists and our team led workshops for the Travis Association for the Blind and the Texas Tribune Festival. We also set up a tactile exhibition is the Austin airport mobility lounge.

Our investment in this program is focused on long-term impact. Allowing attendees to touch art gives them agency to participate in discourse about accessibility, leading to a new standard for galleries to include visually impaired and blind individuals in their process.